What is Click Tracking?

Click tracking is the process of monitoring and recording the clicks made by visitors on various elements of a website.

This data helps in analyzing user behavior, understanding what attracts their attention, and optimizing the website for better user engagement.

Methods of click tracking

While this is not an exhaustive list, here are the primary methods for setting up click tracking:

1. Event tracking

Event tracking involves recording interactions or events that occur on a website or within an application. This method is particularly useful for understanding how users interact with various elements beyond page views.

Using JavaScript, you can set up event tracking with a web analytics tool like GoodMetrics. When a user clicks on a tracked element, the action is recorded and is available for reporting. From here, you can get insights into how many people click on the desired link, what the conversion rate is, and other kinds of useful information.

2. UTM parameters

Another way to track clicks is through the use of UTM parameters. This is super useful when you want to track how many clicks a link gets that's external to your website.

UTM parameters can track clicks by providing data on the source of the traffic, the medium (e.g., email, social media), the campaign name, and other details.

For example, if you were setting up a Facebook Ad promoting your free newsletter, you might create a URL like this:

https://domain.com?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=free_newsletter

This way, when a person clicks this link and lands on your website, you would know that they came from Facebook as a part of a paid campaign to promote your free newsletter.

Souce = Facebook

Medium = CPC

Campaign = Free_Newsletter

3. Click Tracking Pixels

A click tracking pixel is a tiny, transparent image embedded in emails, ads, or web pages. When loaded, it sends information back to the server about the user's action.

This method is widely used in email marketing campaigns to track open rates and click-through rates, offering insights into how users engage with the content.